Mexico: Was Manhunt.net rep racially insensitive?

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Homophobia and racism in soccer, part 65

Newspapers throughout the world have tried to adopt elements of the blogosphere, some by inviting some readers to create their own blogs on their online pages. Mexico's El Siglo de Torreón is no different.

Earlier today, one such blog post found my way and I didn't know what to make of it. It listed a litany of quotes from a Hugo Sánchez, which I gathered was either a soccer player or a coach (Sue me! I'm not much into soccer!) and included the following beauts:

* "He is a fag and he will be rewarded by his pedophile leanings" (referring to Leo Beenhakker [a renowned Dutch football coach currently leading a Polish soccer team] after winning 4-1 in the azulgrana).
* "I'll cut the negro's throat. I will [defecate] on the mother whore that gave birth to that negro" (referring to Castillo, a player of the Santos Laguna in the pre-Olympic trials).
* "The Brazilian negros's at the American Cup 2007... They looked like the Congo, speaking with all respect. You looked to one side and there were four negros warming up, you looked at the other and there were five and three more on the field."

A caveat: I'm not sure whether these quotes are accurate (after all, they were posted by an anonymous Torreón blog author who calls himself GeneralDisarray) but I now know who Hugo Sánchez is (thanks to MachoChip and the Associated Press) and how he just got fired yesterday as the official Mexican Olympic soccer team coach after the team failed to gain a spot at the upcoming Olympics.

That's right: He got fired because his team did not perform to expectations. NOT because of his past comments (if the quotes above are true).

Let's hope that somewhere in the future we will come to a time when no one involved in soccer who makes these sort of statements can even been considered for employment.

Previously:

• Homophobia in soccer, part 64 (Nov. 16, 2007)
• Los Dogos: World Gay Soccer Champs (Sept. 29, 2007)
• Soccer player "outed" in Perú as Argentina hosts gay soccer tournament (Sept. 26, 2007)

Speech reactions

Here is a sampling of excerpts from reactions to yesterday's speech by Barack Obama on race, religion and the presidential race from other blogs I read frequently:

Unlike Kennedy, he was not born to great wealth, pedigree or expectations. What this speech, and his willingness to deliver it, his skill at doing so, the passion in it, represented is what I mentioned second, a quality of mind that is very, very high, certainly in the same league with Kennedy, perhaps surpassing him. I don't know if it will save Obama's candidacy; those who would find a reason not to vote for him now have one, if they didn't already, and as I saw tonight on the monitors at my gym, CNN is still flaying the Wright outtakes and pumping its pundits as if Obama had not said a word today - J's Theater

Having been in the civil rights movement for over forty years, I have heard numerous speeches dealing with race in America. In my mind, this speech occupies the same rank as Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech. Granted the rhetorical flourishes were missing but the substance, honesty and bravery of this speech was simply stunning. He did not duck the tough issues no matter what the political consequences. The Senator bared own personal journey and those that came before him to the entire nation - David Mixner

This searing, nuanced, gut-wrenching, loyal, and deeply, deeply Christian speech is the most honest speech on race in America in my adult lifetime. It is a speech we have all been waiting for for a generation. Its ability to embrace both the legitimate fears and resentments of whites and the understandable anger and dashed hopes of many blacks was, in my view, unique in recent American history - Andrew Sullivan

I thought this was one of the best speeches of his career, and one of the most nuanced speeches on racism of any Presidential candidate with perhaps the exception of Shirley Chisolm. I think one people will be critiquing and debating for years to come - Kenyon Farrow

In Obama's speech I was reading the words of a man that gets it, regardless of the fact that he is a candidate for President of the United States of America that resonate with me on this issue. That he is this close to becoming president of this country -- and to risk it all by cracking open this door on a painful area of this country -- is something I thought I would never see. He is giving voice to a healthier view on race relations that needs to be embraced from a stage where it's hard to argue that it is not an issue worth tackling - Pam Spaulding

I am convinced now more than ever that Barack is the president that we need to move our country forward and to help us create a more perfect union - Bloggernista

He stepped up to the plate, and talked about race and what it has meant to this country. I have been killing the guy since day one to get just a little real, so when he does, I am going to give him credit - The Field Negro

The brilliance of the speech instead was evidenced by the way he leveraged the issue of Wright's comments to examine not only the reality of African-American life, particularly for those of the minister's generation, but also the fears, resentments, and anger that the issue of race has spawned within the nation's white majority. In doing so, Obama's words were significant not only in what was said, but as well in what was not said - Paul Schindler, Editor in Chief, Gay City News

In some ways the furor over the incendiary sermons by Rev. Jeremiah Wright played right to Obama's strengths -- a controversy he could address with a powerful speech, expertly delivered. Certainly anyone with an open mind who heard Obama speak so forcefully about his love for country and faith will accept that no part of Obama agrees with his pastor's outrageous statements... For the immediate future, however, Obama did not do all that he could have to relieve legitimate doubts raised by the controversy - Chris Crain

The question I have is, when will Hillary give her address on race issues? Why was it necessary for Obama to repudiate Rev. Wright when Hillary has so reluctantly distanced herself from racist statements coming from her camp? Why is it Black people always have to take on the responsibility of educating the rest of society on race? - Bejata

Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if Obama could stand up and say: "I agree with a lot of what that pastor says! We do act like terrorists sometimes. And whitey is a mean, oppressing motherfucker who's made life hell for us!"? And if Geraldine Ferraro could stand up and bray: "I have to admit, I was idiotic to suggest that being a black man would be someone's entrée into the White House! Perhaps the fact that not one black has ever been allowed to come close would have been a pretty good clue!"? - Michael Musto who blogs here.

The Speech

Damn if you do, damn if you don't. This morning I got to work later than I have in quite a while. The reason? Barack Obama's speech on race, religion and the presidential race (YouTube video above, transcript here).

It was as moving a political speech I have heard in ages. Maybe ever. And it really hit the ball out of the ballpark in addressing the issues - while transcending them - and calling them for what they really were: An attempt to steal the Democratic nomination from the person who leads in the popular vote as well as the delegate race (I also learned how to pronounce the word chasm!).

Or at least that was my take.

This afternoon proved to me just how divided people are, at least when it comes to the Democratic presidential candidates. Personally, I think it stems from the hurt that Hillary supporters feel that her once supposedly unstoppable nomination has been all but derailed. Nothing that Obama does will be enough to convince some Clinton supporters that he is the real deal and that, should Obama win the Democratic nomination, they should vote for him.

When I first expressed my support for Obama on the eve of the Iowa caucuses (caucusi?) he certainly wasn't being accused of empty inspirational oratory (as a matter of fact he'd been pretty boring at some of the Democratic debates before then). I 'came out' for Obama purely on his record and his stand on LGBT rights. It was seen then as a risk considering how few of New York political movers and shakers had come out as Obama supporters.

Looking back, I am thrilled that I decided to express my support. And, even if he ultimately is not the Democratic nominee, I will be eternally proud that I endorsed Obama relatively early and that he has proved to be much more than I even expected back then.

Dominican Republic: Is it possible to live with gays and Haitians?

The ongoing screenwriter's strike might not be affecting television shows in the Dominican Republic, but the island's main television station (aptly named Supercanal) is certainly banking on reality shows to attract big ratings as well - just like the big networks in the US.

The newest entry into the DR reality show universe is called "The Guagua is My Home" (guagua being a word used in the Caribbean for bus). The premise? Well, take a big bus, plant it in the middle of a public street, let ten contestants go in and, um, watch them sit inside the bus and bicker for the next 45 days as viewers eliminate them one by one based on popularity. The winner gets a million pesos (U$30K). Talk about excitement! Not to mention the big production values! (unfortunately, this is for real and not a smart send-up of Dominican television in the vein of that infamous Belky's Salon ad).

Jan de Bont's "Speed" it ain't so you need to throw in a couple of curveballs as well: According to a Nov. 13 article published in 7 Dias "There are no serious data that proves that a person with a different sexual option or who belongs to another race or nationality can be 'contagious' to others if they share a living space for some time - unless they suffer leprosy."

That's the 7 Dias journalist's classy intro to the news that the producers of "Guagua" (pronounced 'gwah-gwah') decided to include a Haitian man and a "gay" among the ten participants to demonstrate that Dominicans are not racist and can live with a homosexual (it might surprise some people but for an island that is shared by both countries, there is some deep antagonism and racism among lots of Dominicans and Haitians).

The 'gay' actually turned out to be 19 year old drag queen performer Alfonso a/k/a Dominic Figueroa who doesn't quite call himself transgender but says that he also has "another me" who is feminine and calls herself Pocahontas (his casting tape is available on YouTube).

Also among the list of contestants was New York City radio personality Ramón Sierra (a/k/a Papalote from where else but "El Vacilón de la Mañana" on La Mega) who was rumored to have felt up the legs of Pocahontas and another woman on one of the nights he spent in the bus in the hour-long recap I saw Thursday morning on Time Warner cable (which carries Supercanal here in New York).

OK, let's say the set up isn't as homophobic and racist as it seems to me. The presence of Pocahontas in the reality show actually drew a Dominican transgender rights group called Trans Siempre Amigas (or TRANSSA) to the site of the taping to do some HIV and STD prevention demonstrations and they were actually featured on the Nov. 23rd live show demonstrating to the Dominican public how to properly use a condom according to their blog.

As for whether Dominicans can live in close quarters with Haitians and gays, in the re-cap show that I saw this week Pocahontas tried to scratch the Haitians face in an altercation and by week's end they had been both eliminated from the show as well as Papalote according to today's Diario Libre.

I swear, sometimes you can't even make all this sh*t up! Can't wait for the US version.

ITN: SF death, black-face performer out in Los Angeles

Death in San Francisco: Martha Arredondo from Santa Cruz, California, says that she has hired a private investigator to look into the death of her daughter Daxi (pictured right). Daxi's body was found in a seedy San Francisco motel room back in November of 2006 but police are still determining whether her death was a homicide. Her mother says that she decided to hire an investigator after she was called to identify her daughter's body and saw signs of violence. The investigator, she says, has already found out that Daxi was seen walking into the hotel with a man who later was seen leaving alone. Daxi, who was 35, was a transgender woman.

Black-face performer kicked out of Los Angeles: Back in 2004, some of us protested an appearance by gay "comedy" performer Charles Knipp at a Chelsea gay bar and his demeaning characterization of black women and black culture. Local protests go back to 2002. But it's 2007 and Jasmyne Cannick has achieved what we were not able to do: To get Knipp's show cancelled.